Don't Let Me Get Me
by IlovesMesomeGlee
Summary: Dave Karofsky is forced to redefine his life after an accident leaves him paralyzed. Artie inadvertently helps. Then things REALLY change. Artofsky with New Directions. Completely AU. Rated T. Completely AU. I Don't own Glee.
1. Prologue

**AN Hi everybody! I know, I know... I'm hopping from one story to the next. But when a girl gets an idea, she just HAS to write it down! Lol! :)**

 **OK - this one is a role reversal story. Artie is the football jock and Dave is the disabled one trying to find his place in life. This is a Artofsky pairing.**

 **Dave is from New York here and doesn't know anyone from Ohio so no New Direction bad history here between him and the club. Also he's fifteen here and Artie will be sixteen which makes Dave a freshman and Artie a sophomore This is completely AU.**

 **This may look sad and yes, it IS sad...at first. But I'm sure you will love it! X3! And this one has a special place in my heart.**

 **I actually had a dream about this particular idea! Lol!**

 **Also regarding my other Artie and Dave story. That story is on hiatus.. for now. Doesn't mean I won't go back to it because I will. I do have some of it written but for now... I still need time to write some more again. I hope you all understand. :)**

 **Back to this story- This is just a Prologue for now... I'll have a full first chapter up soon. :)**

 **Title comes Pink's song "Don't Let Me Get Me." I love her and that song. I think it fits Dave here too. :)**

 **There are some Grammical errors I know... I'll go through it later and fix it. :) I just wanted to post now. I hope you still like it. :)**

 **So enjoy! And please be kind. :)**

 **HAVE A NICE DAY!-ILOVESMESOMEGLEEx3**

Don't Let Me Get Me

Prologue

 _Dave! Dave! Dave! Dave!_

Hearing the crowd cheer and chant his name revved up Dave Karofsky. He couldn't help but smile everytime the crowd cheered for him. This was exciting!

Dave shifted his focus from the crowd of hundreds people rooting for him in the stands back to the football game currently taking place.

He needed to focus. Dave hadn't realized it but he was running!

 _When did I start that?_ Dave thought. He barely could focus as his feet took off in the opposite direction! Dave looked down and realized he had the football in his hands running toward the end of the field.

 _Am I about to make a touchdown? Wait, isn't the Quarterback supposed to do that?_ Dave was _SO_ confused. His position wasn't the quarterback he knew this for sure but he didn't have time to think... He just ran and ran. Dodging big and hulking beast of players left and right.

Dave ran through them with ease. The crowd getting more and more excited as Dave played the game apparently well.

Suddenly the world stopped. _EVERYTHING_ stopped as Dave reached the goal line.

Dave practically flew and landed hard right on his back dodging yet another guy on the opposing team. The crowd waited and waited for #67 to get up. No noise just utter silence and halted breath. Everything just seem to go in really slow motion.

Dave couldn't breathe. He gasped for air as it was knocked out of him by the impact of the ground. He was exhausted. Dave looked up at the sky briefly as it shone its bright light in front on his face. Dave was briefly blinded and shut his eyes tight.

 _Get up... Dave come on man! Get up!_ Dave thought as he tried to move his legs and wiggle his toes. Dave was in a panic... He _COULDN'T_ feel his legs!

Dave could faintly hear the crowd suddenly groaning in the background but he couldn't focus on them. He couldn't focus _ON ANYTHING!_

No matter what he did he couldn't move! After several attempts Dave wondered why no one was helping him.

He started to cry. Tears streaming down his face. They _WOULDN'T_ stop! And _NO ONE_ was helping him! They just watched as he struggled.

 _Get up! Get up! Get the fuck up now!_ Dave slowly motivated himself as the feeling in his legs _FINALLY_ started to come back.

Dave smiled in relief and let out a relief chuckle as he got up and the crowd suddenly once again cheering for him.

Dave felt fine. He was back to his old self and shook off that momentary numb feeling.

Dave then realized something... Not only had the feeling in his legs came back but he _WON_ the game!

Dave was so estactic! He ran around the field as everyone cheered and celebrated the victory.

He didn't care about the moment he fell. Dave found himself hugging random people he didn't even know.

Dave then looked in the stands for his parents knowing they were just as excited as him about the game.

Dave searched and searched among the crowd until he spotted them.

Dave's smile vanished and turned into utter fear!

Blood and guts zombiefied faces greeted him and Dave was scared beyond belief. These things weren't his parents _AT ALL!_ No way could these things be his parents... They looked like his mom and dad except... Evil. Nothing like he'd ever seen before.

 _WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!_ Dave thought as he screamed and screamed!

"I'm so sorry! I'm SO Sorry! Mom! Dad! Please don't leave!"

.

 _ **Ding ding ding!**_

"Oh shit! I'm soooooory! Nooooo! Mom! Dad! Noooo!" Dave shouts as he wakes up in a sweaty panic. The alarm clock blaring on his night stand next to him. With his beefy arm, Dave slams his hand to shut it off. He's so angry at the nightmare he just had he had the urge to throw his alarm clock out the window. But he doesn't, instead he looks down and groans because he realizes he's covered head to toe in his own sweat.

He hates those dreams. Its been going on for a while now. Its the same dream over and over again. Some things change around of course but its pretty much the same outcome- Dave _ALWAYS_ wakes up in a sweaty panic and _VERY_ angry.

Dave sits up in his bed as best as he could looking down at his numb feet lying lifessly.

"Pitiful." He mutters under his breath. Dave came to the realization after the sleep in his eyes went away that it was all just one bad nightmare. He didn't have the energy to get angry at that moment. He didn't know if it was from sleep or depression but he just did not care enough to feel anything.

Dave wiped his sweaty dripping face with his hand and removed his shirt. He felt gross and decided to change.

That's when Dave became angry all over again. Staring at it made him furious everytime. He _HATED_ it more than _ANYTHING_ in this world.

Dave sat there, shirtless, staring at the chair next to me. Just staring lost in sad thoughts.

"Why me?" Dave choked back tears as he swung his lifeless legs over the bed with his hands. That was the best he could get around anymore.

Dave pushes his chair toward him and with his amazing upper body strength he developed over the last few months got into it in no time.

After that daunting task Dave smelled his armpits and decided that he smelled good enough to avoid the shower.

He couldn't stand to look at the special shower chair that was installed specifically for him so he tried to avoid it all much as he possibly could.

Dave wheeled two steps over to his drawer on the other side of his small room and grabbed the first T-shirt he could get on. Dave didn't even look at himself in the wall mirror placed on his closet door to check if he looked nice.

What was the point. He didn't care. At all.

He couldn't bare a lot of things but the one thing he couldn't bare the most was looking at his own reflection in the mirror.

The truth hurt _TOO_ much. If he stared at himself too long then reality of his new situation would hit him and he'd never stop crying. So to avoid that he just wheeled away. Opening the door Dave wheeled out seamessly into the long hallway of his Aunt June's house.

He had only been staying there for a month since leaving Cloakview and still he could _NEVER_ get used to the smell of old dusty books that wafted through the entire two story house. It really did smell like an abandoned library.

Dave wasn't surprised. After all his Aunt June was a bookworm and kept piles and piles of "Emily Dickenson" Novels or whatever the hell she liked to read all over the house.

"Damn hoader..." Dave whispers as he wheels around looking at said books.

Dave was bored. Its a Sunday morning and he was already bored and over with life. There was nothing to do. Well nothing fun he could _ACTUALLY_ do.

Dave considered wheeling himself on the porch to stare at the beautiful day outside.

He scoffed at that thought.

"I'd rather roll myself off a cliff." Dave darkly chuckled to himself.

"Aunt June!" Dave calls out and nothing. No noise. No Aunt June. Dave scrunched up his face in confusion. He had no idea where his aunt was which was weird since she was the first one usually up early cooking breakfast. But no smells of bacon or eggs in the air. Just dusty, moldy books. Dave wanted to throw up as he made the mistake of taking a big sniff of the air.

Dave wheeled himself all over the living room and laundry room downstairs and still no sign of his aunt anywhere. It was a huge house, easy to get lost in and someone that didn't know this house needed a map just to look around. Aunt June wasn't wealthy herself by no means, her husband built the house with his own two hands before he passed away. He was a hard working modest man and wanted the best for Aunt June, so he built her the house. They wanted a family but never did get a chance to due to his sudden passing away from cancer several years ago. He left her the house and that was it.

Dave's thoughts started to jumble about his uncle and aunt as he searched and searched. He had no idea why he was thinking about his uncle when looking for his aunt.

Dave started to worry. This wasn't like her at all. Not that he cared or anything... He was just hungry and wanted her to make him something since she knew how to cook. Or at least that's what he told himself.

"Aunt June! You up there?"

Dave wheeled himself by the staircase in the front room and loudly yelled for her. He banged on the Mahogony stair banister frustrated that he couldn't just go up there and get her himself.

"Fuck you, chair." Dave looks down and curses the chair.

"Dave! Quit all that yelling! I'm in here!"

Finally after a minute of worrying Dave hears his Aunt June. Her voice sounds distant. He cranes his neck to the left and hears her soft yet loud enough to hear her voice coming from the kitchen.

"Kitchen! Of course! I'm a dumbass."

Dave wanted to slap himself. He knew he should've looked in the kitchen in the first place. Dave quickly rolled as fast as he could and came to a screetching halt when he reached the kitchen.

There was Aunt June sitting in one of the kitchen chairs reading the newspaper.

Dave thought that was weird. Where was his breakfast? He was suddenly upset but kept his emotions in check.

 _No use in getting upset not like she cares anyway._ Dave thought as he sat there awkwardly fighting the urge to twiddle his thumbs waiting for her to speak.

He spoke.

"No breakfast?" Dave asks while Aunt June flashed him an irritated look. She set down her newspaper still with that look on her face, her eyes never leaving Dave's.

She was clearly not pleased.

"Dave...I'm not a house maid you know." Aunt June was surpringly calm as she spoke her next words. But Dave can tell she was annoyed just by the look in her soft green eyes.

"If you want breakfast, you can fix yourself a bowl of cereal... Just because I've been cooking for you for several weeks now doesn't mean I'm going to do it all the time. Your arms work perfectly fine..."

 _Blah Blah Blah_ Dave tuned her out and wheeled himself to the fridge to pour himself some cereal just to shut her up. He didn't want to hear her lecture once again on how the upper half of his pathectic body was perfectly normal.

No matter what she or anyone said. Dave knew better... Dave was a freak. No convincing him otherwise.

Dave pushed himself to the table with the cereal box in his mouth and bowl and spoon carefully balancing in his lap. Slowly he inched for the table. It was still difficult doing this simple task by himself but Dave managed to do it all by himself anyway. His aunt was about to get up to help him but Dave shook his head no and she sat right back down watching him struggle.

Dave was a strong, stubborn kid. It was better to let him figure things out then to do it for him. Aunt June was kind enough to give him that independence he so desperately wanted back.

When he reached the table and got settled in Dave ate his breakfast in silence, not really interested in talking these days. Dave and Aunt June sat in an awkward silence. All that could be heard were the sounds of cereal being devoured.

After Dave was done with his cereal in the five minutes it took for him to inhale it he made himself a second bowl. For a few months now Dave was purposely overeating. He knew why he just couldn't admit it.

He was still surprised he had such amazing strength since he ate so much but never really excercised anymore.

He stopped caring about his weight a few months ago when everything changed. Before life dealt him a difficult shitty new hand, Dave was athletic and took care of his body, ate healthy and worked out.

Things were different now. That was the past.

After his sixth bowl Dave was finished and he was full as his aunt looked at him waiting to speak.

"What?" He says wiping his mouth and setting the bowl down. He looked back at her suspiciously.

She sighed, tucking her long chestnut brown hair behind her ears.

"Dave... You have been moping around this house for a month now since you got back from Cloakview..." Dave listened closely wondering where she was going with this conversation but not saying anything.

"You... You need to go to school... You need an education, sitting in this house can't be good for you... I already enrolled you at Mckinkey.." Aunt June didn't get to finish. Dave was pissed!

"What?! No way! No way am I going to some hick ass high school! I was in one of New York's top schools before I was forced to come to banjo lovin' Ohio for godsakes! No! No! No! Homeschool me or whatever! I don't belong ther-!" Dave slammed his hand on the table repeatedly getting madder and madder. His aunt couldn't be serious. Dave was a smart grade A student and former football player. What could McKinley offer him? Dave didn't know and he never wanted to find out. He refused and will refuse forever to go. He didn't give a shit.

"Dave!" Aunt June suddenly screeched and Dave stopped his childish trantum, with wide eyes he studied her face. She looked at him with the same fiercessness all of the Karofsky's had.

She doesn't mess around and Dave knew that.

He shut his mouth then and there.

She cleared her throat and spoke calmy and tried to be rational with her stubborn fifteen year old nephew.

"Now that I got your attention. You _WILL_ listen." Dave nodded his head.

"Good". She smiled.

Dave frowned. The clock on the wall ticked away.

"Dave... You know I can't homeschool you... I work at the Buy N Save all day and come home at nights. Its nearly impossible unless you want us to be poor." Aunt June chuckled at nothing really funny.

"This is our only option... You have been cooped up in this house long enough. You need to socialize with kids your age again". Dave wanted to argue with that but she was right. He can't be here forever even though it felt safe.

Dave sighed heavily. Aunt June smirked knowing he couldn't fight the truth.

"So tomorrow is Monday..." Dave fought off the urge to say "Duh", " and I enrolled you at McKinley... Aunt June put her hand up when she knew Dave was about to interrupt her again. "Before you run your mouth again. Just remember since both of your parents..." Aunt June's face almost fell apart and so did Dave's when she mentioned them. The wounds were still fresh. But she held it together and kept her composure with sudden firmness she continued.

"Since you were placed in my care... I _DECIDE_ your future until you are eighteen... Last time I checked you are still fifteen. I'm the gaurdian until then. What I say goes... You _ARE_ going to McKinley... Whether you like it or not... _NO_ exceptions."

With that being said Aunt June suddenly got up and walked away not even looking at Dave.

Dave sat there alone going over what just happened

 _Looks like I have no choice... If she thinks I'm happy about it she's wrong! How dare she bring up mom and dad...This is bullshit! Ugh. I have no choice._ Dave was so frustrated he didn't move for a _VERY_ long time.

After a few minutes he accepted and came to terms with his already decided fate.

He was going to McKinley. This was indeed bullshit.

"Great." Dave sighed unamused by this whole thing, crossing his arms he left the kitchen still grumbling under his breath how life was unfair.

.

 **AN: Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think? :) Should I continue? Artie will be in the next chapter. Also I forgot to mention above that everything about football in that dream was supposed to be wrong and backwards on purpose. There's a method to my madness! Lol ;) Until next time... Have a Great Day!-ILOVESMESOMEGLEEX3**


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello Everyone! :)**

 **Welcome to the official first chapter! :)**

 **Thank you to my beta umbrella0326 for helping me with this! Luv you! :)**

 **Thank you to Dawofmorning for reviewing! :)**

 **Guys, this is Dave's first day at McKinley high! Let's see how it goes...**

 **Artie was fun to write. :)**

 **Please review. Please be kind. If you have questions let me know.**

 **OK- I don't want to give too much away...**

 **With that... Let go to school!**

Chapter 1

When they emerged from her modest house, Dave squinted at the sunlight. He wished he could use his left hand to shield his eyes from the morning brightness like he used to. Instead, he had to make sure he was wheeling down the slightly declined walkway.

And behind him, quite predictably, he heard the clicking shoes of his aunt June. Wordlessly, they approached her car. Dave went over to the passenger side and opened the door. At least he was able to do that. With upper body strength that he wished he had when he was amble and a jock, he easily lifted his body and useless legs into the seat.

Suddenly, the chair was almost violently unlocked, pulled back and folded up. He could hear her heavy breathing as she pushed the chair and lifted up the trunk. June let moans and groans escape as she hefted the chair into the trunk, which messed up her hair a little bit. She slammed the trunk and took a surprising amount of time to make sure her hair was all right.

Dave peered into the windshield's mirror, watching her do this. A small compact mirror was in one of her hands, while the other worked a comb furiously through her hair over and over.

Meanwhile, Dave simply watched her. There wasn't anything else to do. With a little sigh, he glared at the backpack in his lap. He knew it would soon be filled with textbooks and homework assignments and class projects and any thing else high school-related. He shut his eyes for a long moment.

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M GOING BACK TO SCHOOL, Dave thought. He opened his eyes and June was STILL fixing her hair!

"Can we go please?" Dave yelled. He stared at her in the mirror and she came to a total stop, staring at him. Then, she slammed her compact shut and tucked her purse over her collarbone. June practically marched to the driver's side door and got in.

"Can't you wait a minute?" June muttered, starting the car.

"No! Not when I'm going to a place I REALLY don't want to go any-!"

"Shut up, Dave."

"The hell I will! Why in the good goddamn-!"

"Don't swear."

Dave shook with rage. "You have no idea how much I want to…"

"To what, Dave?" She asked as she pulled out onto the street.

"Never mind."

They drove in complete silence towards Dave's first day at McKinley High School.

.

It was actually a short drive. Dave had nothing to do except stew in anger, so he kept track of the number of city blocks it took to reach the school. Five. Just five blocks. She turned into the school's grounds and parked close to the gymnasium.

With a heavy sigh, she said, "I'll get your chair." Then, she opened the door, left, and slammed it shut.

I'LL GET YOUR CHAIR, Dave sarcastically thought to himself. And as usual, he heard her moans and groans of effort, along with a few curse words as he felt the trunk slam shut. He just stared ahead, not even bothering to look at the school.

Suddenly, his door opened and she positioned the chair. This was his last chance to escape doing what she wanted. But nothing came to his mind. Reluctantly, he hoisted himself into the chair and shut his own door shut. When she positioned herself behind Dave to push him, he slapped her hands away.

"I can do it." He acidly said. "I don't want people here thinking I'm an invalid and that I need…"

But he stopped talking. He realized he was talking to no one because his aunt June had already begun walking ahead of him. Dave Karofsky shook his big head and started rolling towards the school. At least the school looked decently sized. Chances of handicapped accessibility seemed…good. He quickly found the entrance ramp and they even had a handicapped door opener.

An eyebrow raised on his head. He seemed…more chipper.

That was until he got to the inner doors – the handicapped door was broken. June, who was already inside, pursed her lips and opened the door for Dave. He sardonically smiled up at her as he rolled by.

"I'm gonna be late for work." She muttered and increased her speed. Dave actually had to wheel harder just to keep up.

It looked like a standard high school. A trophy case was to the left, with the gymnasium beyond it. The hallways were littered with students, opening and closing lockers, chatting, heads bowed on electronic devices, and teachers wiping chalkboards. As he rolled past them, he watched people staring at him. But when he scowled at them, they quickly looked away. Dave sighed.

After a few turns down some halls, they finally reached the school's office. June abruptly turned around.

"This is where I leave you." She announced. And with that, she began to walk past him. But a silent panic struck Dave and he tried to say something. June stopped, looked down at him, and let a little sigh release. "You'll be fine, Dave. They'll tell you where to go."

Then, she left. All too quickly, the sound of her clicking heels was drowned by early morning student activity. He sat there, looking at his hands. He was probably in the way, since he stopped just inside the office door. But Dave didn't care.

"Um, excuse me?"

Dave looked up and nearly rolled his eyes. WHY DOES EVERY SCHOOL SECRETARY LOOK THE SAME?, Dave thought.

"Welcome to McKinley High School, Mr. Karofsky!" the energetic, brunette secretary said. Dave said nothing. "Here is your class schedule. We signed you up for basic classes. No AP classes or anything." She walked around and stooped down to his level. His eyebrows furrowed. "Now, do you need any special-?"

"I'm fine." Dave curtly said, taking the schedule from her hands. "I'm fine."

She stood up, staring down at him with a puzzled expression on her face. "Now, I could…e-escort you to your first class. From there you could ask any teacher for directions-"

"Doesn't this school have a school map?"

Her lips pursed together. "No, we don't." With that, she turned and walked behind the desk, staring down at her work. "Have a nice day."

She didn't looked back up. He didn't either. Instead, he just wheeled towards the exit before coming to an abrupt halt.

"I…" Dave began. The secretary looked up at him, her hazel eyes matching his. "I don't know where," he glanced at his schedule, "first period American Government is."

Her face brightened. "Well, I'll just take you there!"

Dave half-smiled and left.

After that, Dave's day was consumed with phrases like, 'where's this class?' or 'where's the science hall?' or 'excuse me' or 'where's the ramp?' or 'excuse me!'. Once in a while, he said 'EXCUSE MEEE!' But that didn't happen too often. Often enough, though, for Dave.

Lunch was an adventure. Eyes poured over his arms pushing his wheels, the black and aluminum chair, the people getting out of his way, and the staring. Always the staring. Rude as can be, the staring grated his skull and forced his teeth to grind. And when his mean eyes stared at THEM, eyes sometimes went down or to the right. Sometimes, they'd look back up momentarily and then right back to their disgusting lunch.

Dave grabbed a tray and set it on his lap. As expected, lunch ladies with good intentions tried to make his life "easier", but instead, he verbally growled at them and they went away. He ate alone. Dave violently shoved a chair out of his way with his chair and he wheeled up to the table. His lasagna and green beans stared up at him and he didn't want to look back up.

He didn't want the stares.

He didn't want the PITIFUL stares.

He didn't want the offers for help.

He didn't want his chair.

So, he ate in silence, barely eating his food despite the moaning from his belly. Long, lonely, lazy minutes drained and he finally pushed his food away. Bravely, he finally looked up and at the cafeteria.

No one was looking at him as he craned his head. A soft sigh of relief blew from his mouth. But then, there WAS someone looking at him from afar. Dave looked at him too. He wore that God-awful red Letterman coat and nerdy glasses. Beyond that, the kid looked like an ordinary jock. They just continued to look at each other. But Dave noticed he didn't feel any hostility looking at this amble boy.

Finally, the jock nodded to him and returned to the rest of his hockey friends or jock friends or whatever they were. Dave then turned to his self-imposed isolation.

The afternoon was basically the same. More classes, more stares, some homework, students trying to do the right thing by moving desks (which Dave wouldn't admit WAS helpful), more stares, more boring lectures, and…more stares.

In other words, it was one of the worst days of David Karofsky's life. It rivaled the night of that accident.

Dave shook his head and couldn't wait for the final bell. He deftly texted his aunt to be there to pick him up from school. The teacher was droning on and on and on. He wasn't sure, but he thought the teacher was going on about civil rights or something. And then, he wanted to crawl into a hole and die when the teacher mentioned the Americans with Disabilities Act.

GEE, I WONDER WHY THE FUCKER MENTIONED THAT! Dave thought.

Finally, finally, the bell rung. This awful school day was over.

If Dave thought the halls were crowded in the early morning or at lunchtime, they were nothing compared to the end of the school day. He never noticed this before. But now, confined to a chair, it took on a new series of challenges.

As he wheeled down the hall, he often had to change his speed or even weave a little. Students who were laughing and smiling with their friends over stupid stuff, would see him coming and the smiles would vanish from their faces. Instead, they'd quietly get out of the way, like a tyrant approaching them.

Dave cruelly smiled to himself. After all, getting through tough times sometimes requires dark humor.

He was nearing the gymnasium and the trophy case. The exit was beyond that. And of course, a sociology textbook had to fall out of his bookbag. Wheeling to a halt, he reached down to pick it up only to have it absentmindedly kicked! Growling, he started to wheel forward to get it when it was abruptly picked up. Dave came to a stop and looked up at him. His jaw dropped.

There, standing with the textbook, was that jock from the lunchroom. A goofy smile was on his face, his brown eyes shining behind those nerdy glasses.

"I figured," the jock said, "that you might need this." He handed the book over to Dave. And when he did, Dave grabbed the book and looked up again. The boy looked at him with a kindness that wasn't what Dave expected. Instead, he saw an open generosity that threw Dave off.

"Thank you." Dave muttered. He tucked the book into his bag. And when he looked up, the boy just stood there, a half-smile now on his face. Suddenly, he extended a hand.

"I'm Artie."

"Dave."

They awkwardly shook hands. Dave could feel that his hand was rough, probably from playing sports. But it felt warm. Familiar.

Finally, they released each other's hands.

"If you'd," Artie began, shoving his hands into his letterman jacket, "like to join-"

"No. Thanks for the book." And then, Dave began wheeling towards the exit. "Now, kindly FUCK OFF!"

He wheeled past the stunned jock. Artie, with a shocked expression on his face, watched him roll down the hall, and awkwardly out the door.

"Well, hello to you too."

.

 **AN: Well that was... Awkward! Yikes! Poor Artie. Dave was being a jerk. Anyway I'll to update as much as I can. Have a Nice Day!-ILOVESMESOMEGLEEX3**


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